Raya and the Last Dragon (2021).

“My girl Raya and I are going to fix the world.”

Directed by Don Hall and Carlos Lopez Estrada

Written by Qui Nguyen and Adele Lim

Starring the voices of Kelly Marie Tran, Awkwafina, Izaac Wang, Gemma Chan, and Daniel Dae Kim

1. (The Stage)

Set in the fictional region of Kumandra, five warring countries that used to be one unleash a plague upon the world that turns people into stone. A young warrior named Raya sets out on a quest to find all pieces of a stone, as well as Sisu, a mythical dragon who may be able to help destroy the plague and get the world back to normal. It won’t be easy, however, as Namaari, a rival warrior, is also after the stone shards.

2. (The Good)

The animation is absolutely gorgeous. From the waves in the water to the fur on the dragons, everything looks stunning. It makes me think that we’re not far away from having fully virtual films (which is as worrying as it is exciting). There’s a sequence in which Sisu is jumping on platforms made of water that looks particularly amazing. Each land she visits is as varied as the last, and it definitely gives you a sense of space in her world.

As a Disney princess, I quite liked Raya. She feels a little more sarcastic and cocksure than most of their leading ladies, and I found it refreshing. I really liked her look as well, the traveling, battle-scarred nomad, armed with her steed, a sword, and a treasure map. It was great seeing a Disney princess that hails from Southeast Asia who was also voiced by a Vietnamese American.

The main theme of Raya and the Last Dragon is about trust. The message is a good one for kids to hear, even if the idyllic nature of the film doesn’t seem like it works in the real world. This, of course, is coming from a jaded adult who sees the millions of grownup morons trolling about the country…but hey, maybe I’m part of the problem.

3. (The Bad)

While the animation looks amazing, the fight scenes were very disappointing. As someone who loves fight films, I was impressed that Disney put some actual hand-to-hand combat into one of their titles (although you don’t really see any strikes land, because this is a PG rated film). That said, the fight scenes don’t look great. They are edited with multiple cuts in a way that live-action movies film around their actresses, leaving the actual blows and tougher moves to the stunt doubles. It took a lot of the magic of these fight scenes away. This is an animated film - we don’t need the cuts.

The story, while fun, is nothing that I felt like I hadn’t seen before in Disney films. You get the stereotypical single dad, the predictable predicament at the beginning, the paint-by-numbers story beats, leading to an ending that you will be able to see coming from miles away. It’s a fun journey, but it is also ridiculously predictable. There was not one surprise to be had.

4. (The Ugly)

The plague that turns people to stone really is like Disney’s version of the Thanos snap. People are basically stuck in stone state that in this case, lasts six years. I wonder if they were conscious for those six years. Are they standing still, encased in stone, watching the world pass them by? Or did they just pop back into being six years later, with no knowledge of what happened in the meantime?

Also, let’s talk about that baby. The baby is, at the most, two years old. This means that her parents weren’t turned into stone, but died some other way. So we have a baby that Talon has essentially given up on, raised by three monkeys who are teaching her the art of the con. Let’s catch up with her in twenty years, I’d love to see how her life shook out.

5. (The End)

Raya and the Last Dragon is a fun, predictable romp that kids will probably love. It’s not in the pantheon of great Disney films and I don’t think it’s worth the extra $30 that Disney+ is charging on top of your subscription. If this was a film you would have seen in theaters and you have at least one kid, the $30 price tag is still better than a family trip to the cinema. I enjoyed my time with it and Raya is a badass princess that I hope we see more of.